Just Keep Breathing
by x-vegasbaby
Summary: High School AU. Being in a new place with new people is hard. Being in a new place with new people and slowly falling for one of those people is even harder. Especially when said person thinks they're off-limits. Or so it is thought.


**I don't own CSI or it's copywrited material or characters. Only my plot, etc. This was just an idea that came to me one day and wouldn't leave. Even if you don't like it, please review. Thanks.**

"Oh, come on man. She really grounded you for a month. Just for sneaking out to a party? A party that wasn't even worth going to?" Nick Stokes laughed almost pathetically for his best friend as they sat with their friends outside during lunch on campus.

Greg Sanders nodded, shoving a french fry into his mouth. "Mhm." he grunted, rolling his eyes. "Yep. She bitched about how 'You could have been killed or abducted!' and then yelled at me in Norwegian." he said, imitating his mother halfway through his statement.

Warrick scoffed. "Your mom's a total 10, but she needs to relax." he said, trying to work on a problem of his pre-calc that needed to be done next period; his lunch tray abandoned beside him. Greg inwardly groaned at yet again, another friend that thought his mom was hot.

He was just about to say something when he caught eye of something...or someone, to be exact. A girl, a new girl because he knew everyone in the school and he would have known if he had seen someone who looked like her before. She was talking to one of the guidance counselors with a non-caring, almost blank look on her face.

"Earth to Greggo." Warrick said, waving a hand in front of Greg's face as he continued to gawk. He shook his head and came back down to Earth.

He raised an eyebrow and looked back to his friends. "What?" he asked, nonchalantly. Warrick just let out a soft chuckle and returned to his math. Nick smirked and looked in the direction that Greg had just been. He let out a triumphant laugh. "Eyeballin' the new girl, Greg?" he teased and Greg scoffed, finishing off the rest of his drink as he answered.

"Nah, just haven't seen her before is all." he defended himself and Warrick spoke after he did.

"Name's Riley something or other. She's in me and Sara's English class. From Missouri or some nobody state like that." he explained and Greg nodded, but wasn't really paying attention. He was watching the girl, now known as Riley, making her way through the small cliques and sat herself down at a table, her pile of books strewn in front of her. She looked around tucking her hair behind her ear and as she scoped out her surroundings, she caught eye of him.

She smiled and blushed, looking away quickly and back down to her books, shakily opening one to a random page and pretending to read it.

Greg stood up, slinging on his shoulder bag and leaned down to Nick's ear. "Be right back." he said, walking off and tossing the contents of his tray out after grabbing the cookie off it, still uneaten. He made his way through his classmates and eventually made it towards the almost empty table where Riley sat at one end and some kid sat at the other end, ears in headphones and face buried in some goth novel. Greg paid him no attention as he tentatively sat himself across from Riley.

She seemed to notice his appearance and looked up slowly. Greg had never seen more beautiful eyes on a girl before. They weren't blue but they weren't exactly gray either. They were...unique. "Um. Hi." she said, in a soft tone.

Greg returned with a soft smile as he held his hand out, offering her the big chocolate chip cookie, aka; the only good food in the cafeteria. "Hi. I, I'm Greg. Greg Sanders. Heard you're new and so I give to you a welcome gift." he said, laughing awkwardly at how dorky he sounded. But she just giggled, holding her hand out and taking the cookie.

"I'm Riley. Thanks and yeah; I'm new." she shrugged and broke a small piece of the cookie off and popped it in her mouth, chewing slowly as she looked at Greg, who smirked in return.

"I know what it's like. I moved here from California in junior high." he said, taking off his bag and putting it on the table next to him.

She smiled, "California? What's it like there? I've never been." she said, looking down at the cookie and breaking a piece off of it and handing it to him.

Greg thanked her and bit off of his piece. "It was okay. Hot all the time, so no difference here, really." he chuckled nervously. "Where you from?" he asked.

"St. Louis," she said, pushing her hair behind her shoulder. "My parents are shrinks and there's like a sister branch of the loony bin they work at, opening here and their boss offered my dad up to be the head honcho here, so he took it." she explained, sounding like she already rehearsed it from saying it so many times.

"Loony bin. Nice. Much more interesting than my parents." he laughed, absent mindedly twisting his bleach blond hair around his fingers as he smiled at her.

"Really, how so?" she returned his smile, finishing off the cookie and crumpling up the paper into a misshapen ball.

Sitting up, Greg spoke. "Dad's a architect, Mom's a nurse." he said, taking the ball of paper and leaning back, tossing it trying to mimic an NBA player, smirking as he looked nonchalant, throwing it.

His face fell as the garbage bounced off the rim of the metal trashcan and landed in the grass. Riley let out a short laugh. "Well, I don't think you'll be getting drafted anytime soon." she said, getting up and walking the short distance to the trash can and bending over to pick up the paper and toss it correctly into the can.

"Ha. You're funny. I like funny." he said, not realizing it had came out of his mouth until both he and Riley were matching shades of pink. The silence ended when Greg cleared his throat and nodded towards her bag. "What other three classes do you have after lunch?" he asked, wondering if they were going to share any classes.

Riley rummaged through her bag to retrieve her schedule when Greg felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. Looking around quickly to check for teachers, he pulled it out of his pocket and held it under the table and read the text that had just been sent.

'u get in her pants yet?' - Nick

Greg rolled his eyes and didn't even bother texting him back, instead putting his phone back into his pocket. He turned around, seeing Nick smirking at him from across the yard. Greg gave him the finger and turned back to Riley, who had her schedule out. He took it when she offered it to him.

Scanning over it, he saw that in fact they had they had two of out three remaining classes together. "Oh, you got Ecklie for trig in about-" Greg stopped to look at his watch, "-ten minutes. So do I. Uhm. You'll be with Langston for health after and last class is biology with Grissom." he handed her schedule back to her. "I have trig and bio with you. Heads up, Ecklie's an ass. Stick with me and you'll be fine." he gave her a pointer as they started to gather up their things, as did all the other students.

"Haven't had Langston, but I heard he's okay. Now, Grissom's where it's at. He gets a bit weird with quoting ancient stuff, but he's real good to work with. Do I talk too much? I think I am. Sorry." he said as Riley laughed, slinging her book bag on while Greg put his shoulder bag on.

She shook her head. "Nah. Besides, you're the only one who's actually talked to me this much and this long all day. So, it's okay." she smiled. She looked besides Greg and pointed. "They your friends?" Greg followed her finger and saw Nick and Warrick walking towards them.

He nodded. "Yeah. This is-" Greg was interrupted by Nick.

"Nick Stokes. We have study hall together. I saw you this morning. And this is Warrick Brown," Nick pointed to Warrick. "He says you guys have English together." he said and Riley nodded slowly.

"I guess. Sorry if I don't remember. Hard day, y'know." she shrugged as the bell rang. Nick hit Greg's shoulder as he and Warrick went the opposite way.

"Catch ya later, man." he said and Greg nodded to his friends.

He led Riley in the direction of their next class inside. They weaved through large crowds of students lingering in the hall before eventually making it to Ecklie's classroom. "May I be honored on behalf of Valley High School to be the first to welcome you to hell." he smirked, pointing into Ecklie's classroom.

Riley laughed and followed his lead of walking into the class. "Yes you may and thanks for the heads up." she smirked. She was actually beginning how quickly she had begun to warm up to Greg. Little did she know, Greg was thinking the same thing about her.

**Okay, I know it sucks. But it was just this idea that wouldn't seem to leave my head when it came to. Just a heads up, yes the other characters will be in this but the major characters are Greg and Riley. But everyone will show up. Please review? No flames; I'd rather have constructive criticism.**  
**Thanks.**


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